Get ready to welcome spring

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Posted Feb. 21, 2013 at 3:15 AM

Posted Feb. 21, 2013 at 3:15 AM

NEWBURYPORT, Mass. -- Get ready to welcome springtime with trumpeter Richard Watson and organist Douglas Major on Sunday, March 17 at 4 p.m. at the Unitarian Church, 26 Pleasant St., Newburyport, the third of three concerts in the 2013 Jean C. Wilson Music Series. The program features works by Telemann, Tomasi, Hovanness, Damase and Major’s “St. Michael Concerto.”

Trumpeter Richard Watson and organist Douglas Major team up once again for a stunning program of works ranging from the Baroque to the modern eras. Both artists are well-known in the New England area, and they have performed many duo programs as well as recorded at the Methuen Music Hall.

Hailed by the Boston Globe as “exceedingly gifted,” Richard Watson’s performance has been described by the Worcester Telegram & Gazette as “stunning perfection.”

Raised in Danvers, Richard Watson studied at New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. He spent three summers as a member of the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, followed by further studies with Vincent Penzarella of the New York Philharmonic and James Pandolfi of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra.

In addition to his solo work, Watson serves as Principal Trumpet of Symphony New Hampshire and of the Granite State Symphony and is Assistant Principal Trumpet of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra. He is on the faculty of Salem State University and works with some talented younger trumpeters in his private studio.

An internationally recognized solo artist, Douglas Major has toured throughout North America, Europe, and the Far East. He has been the organ soloist on tour with the Orchestre National de France and Lorin Maazel, and toured Japan in 1992 and in 2002 with the Empire Brass Quintet. In November 2005, Major played a concert tour of China, Taiwan, Singapore, and Malaysia.

In 2001 and again in 2004, he participated in the American Organists’ Festival in Kiev, playing recitals to standing-room-only audiences. For the last two Christmas seasons, Major has toured the US, playing in over 35 cities with Elizabeth VonTrapp and the Empire Brass Quintet.

Major now lives in Salem, where he works as a composer of music for organ, synthesizer, choirs, and chamber ensembles, and also serves as Music Director of Saint Michael’s Church in Marblehead. His recent compositions include “Love Poem to God,” commissioned by the American Guild of Organists, “Requiem in C Minor,” premiered in Atlanta in October of 2005, and a suite for organ entitled “Cape Ann Portraits,” based upon locations along the Massachusetts coastline.

The Jean C. Wilson Music Series is named for one of the founders and the director of the music series for 27 years. Now, under the auspices of the First Religious Society Unitarian Universalist Music Committee, the Music Series typically offers three concerts held during the first three months of the year.

Suggested donations are $15, $10 for seniors, children and students free. For more information about the concert go to www.frsuu.org or call 978-465-0602 x401.